1947 Stanley Cup Final

Paths to the Finals

Montreal defeated the Boston Bruins 4–1 to advance to the Finals. Toronto defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4–1 to advance to the Finals.

The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 78 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished second with 72 points. This was the fifth playoff series between these two teams with each team winning two of the previous series. Their most recent series came in the 1945 semifinals which Toronto won in six games. In the regular season series, there were five wins for Montreal, three wins for Toronto and four ties.

Game summaries

Ted Kennedy was the leader with three goals including the Cup winner. Toronto had several new players in its lineup, including Howie Meeker, Bill Barilko and Bill Ezinicki, as Toronto sported the youngest NHL team to win the Cup to that time.

The series continued a competition that had gone on all season, with Montreal and Toronto finishing 1–2. Montreal coach Dick Irvin was mad at the beginning of the series, recalling a season-ending injury to Montreal forward Elmer Lach from a body check by Don Metz. Montreal started out strong in the series, defeating the Leafs 6–0 in the opener. Canadiens goaltender Bill Durnan reportedly asked "How did those guys get in the league?", although he denied saying those words later.

The second game was a rough game, with Maurice Richard knocking out Vic Lynn and Bill Ezinicki with high-sticks to the head. Richard earned himself over 20 minutes in penalties and a game misconduct and a suspension for game three. The Leafs took advantage of the power plays and defeated Montreal 4–0. Richard would earn himself a further $250 fine imposed by president Clarence Campbell.

Games three and four were played in Toronto, and Toronto won both to take a 3–1 series lead. Returning to the Forum for game five, Montreal won the game to extend the series. In the sixth game, Turk Broda showed outstanding goaltending, holding off Ken Reardon on a late breakaway, and the Leafs won 2–1 to win the Stanley Cup.

After the sixth game ended, the Cup was not presented to the Leafs. Clarence Campbell declined to present the Cup immediately, concerned over the spectre of fan violence.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =2:20 - pp - Buddy O'Connor (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =8:17 - pp - Billy Reay (5) 9:41 - Maurice Richard (4) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =5:40 - George Allen (1) 11:04 - Billy Reay (6) 18:28 - Murph Chamberlain (1) |goalie1-1 =Turk Broda |goalie1-2 =Bill Durnan

|2-1-1 =Ted Kennedy (2) - pp - 1:12 Vic Lynn (2) - pp - 1:36 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =Gaye Stewart (2) - pp - 6:37 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Harry Watson (2) - pp - 11:55 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Turk Broda |goalie2-2 =Bill Durnan

|3-1-1 =9:45 - Gus Mortson (1) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =4:48 - pp - Bud Poile (1) 12:23 - Vic Lynn (3) |3-2-2 =Leo Gravelle (1) - 12:33 Buddy O'Connor (2) - 18:30 |3-3-1 =19:13 - Ted Kennedy (3) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Turk Broda |goalie3-2 =Bill Durnan

|4-1-1 =6:13 - Harry Watson (3) |4-1-2 =Glen Harmon (1) - pp - 4:38 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |4-4-1 =16:36 - Syl Apps (5) |4-4-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Turk Broda |goalie4-2 =Bill Durnan

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =1:23 - Maurice Richard (5) 8:29 - Leo Gravelle (2) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =19:32 - pp - Maurice Richard (6) |5-3-1 =Bud Poile (2) - 13:37 |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Turk Broda |goalie5-2 =Bill Durnan

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =Buddy O'Connor (3) - 00:25 |6-2-1 =5:39 - Vic Lynn (4) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =14:39 - Ted Kennedy (4) |6-3-2 =No scoring |goalie6-1 =Turk Broda |goalie6-2 =Bill Durnan

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1947 Stanley Cup was presented to Maple Leafs captain Syl Apps by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Maple Leafs 2–1 win over the Canadiens in game six.

The following Maple Leafs players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1946–47 Toronto Maple Leafs

• 3 Wally Stanowski
• 18 Garth Boesch
• 19 Gus Mortson
• 20 Jimmy Thomson
• 21 Bill Barilko
• 9 Ted Teeder Kennedy (A)
• 10 Sylvanous Syl Apps Sr. (Captain)
• 5 Nick Metz
• 7 Norman Bud Poile
• 11 Don Metz
• 12 Bill Ezinicki
• 14 Vic Lynn
• 15 Howie Meeker
• 16 Gaye Stewart (A)
• 17 Joe Klukay* |player-notes= Name mistakenly removed from the Stanley Cup when it was redone in the 1957–58 season. |non-players=
• Ed Bickle (President/Owner), William MacBrien (Vice President/Owner)
• Jack Bickell (Director/Owner), John Murdoch (Vice President)
• Conn Smythe (Manager/Owner), Clarence Hap Day (Coach)
• Tim Daly (Trainer), Clifford Keyland (Asst. Trainer)
• Robert Galloway (Team Doctor), Horance MacIntyre (Team Doctor)
• George Walker (Chief Scout) |engraving-notes=
• • #17 Joe Klukay's (LW) name was removed by mistake from new version of 1947 Toronto's engraving created in 1957–58. (There is space where his name should have been included left of Don Metz)
• 1947 Toronto Maple Leafs were first Stanley Cup winning team to have the Captain(C), and Assistant Captain(A) marked on their sweaters on their Stanley Cup team picture.
• When the Replica Cup was created in 1992–93 a new mistake happened. Robert J. Galloway's name was misspelled as P.J. Galloway with "P" instead of a "R". His name is spelled correctly the first 2 times 1947 Toronto members were engraved.
• Stanley Cup was full and 1946-47 Toronto Maple Leafs members names were not engraved on the Stanley Cup until 1948. |

References and notes

before = Montreal Canadiens 1946 | after = Toronto Maple Leafs 1948 | title = Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup champions | years = 1947|

References

1. McFarlane, p. 96
2. McFarlane, p. 97
3. McFarlane, pp. 97–98